


String of Blinking Lights

by madjm



Category: From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series
Genre: Alternate Universe, Christmas, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-09-06 06:00:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8737546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madjm/pseuds/madjm
Summary: "I knew when I married you I was getting Richie, too, but I didn’t know I was getting my beautiful home turned into ‘National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.’” SethKate





	

**Author's Note:**

> Idk what this is, but it's probably closing in on crackfic. Everybody's human AU.

Kate knows there are worse things in the world than being stuck in a meeting on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Of course there are. People all over the world are homeless, starving, in pain, people are being shot to death or tortured or losing everything.

 

She, on the other hand, is very blessed. She has a husband she loves, a new home and a baby on the way. After several years of estrangement, she’s finally made up with her brother, and managed to get him and her father to show up to Thanksgiving and behave more or less like adults for the entire day. Despite the fact that her boss is a perverted windbag who loves to hear himself talk, she loves her job, helping families adopt children in need.

 

She doesn’t mind being forced to “volunteer” for the committee organizing their big end-of-the-year fundraising gala. Their organization always needs money, and people are always more willing to give around the holidays, especially when you’re plying them with alcohol. 

 

Plus, it gives her the golden opportunity of getting her husband into (and out of) a tuxedo, and Seth Gecko can rock a tuxedo better than any man she’s ever seen.

 

Even being required to come in on a Saturday for a meeting isn’t the worst thing, but the fact that the women on the committee had already discussed and put into motion everything their boss is droning on about makes her want to throw something through the window and escape.

 

She could be home in her pajamas taking a nap.

 

She has a moment of panic when she sees Seth has texted her. Her husband hates texting and only uses it in emergencies or as a last resort when he absolutely couldn’t speak to you in person or on the phone. 

 

But instead of a an emergency, it’s a simple message: _Got a surprise for you when you get home. :-)_

 

That’s the whole message, complete with old-school emoticon, since Seth refuses on general principle to ever use emojis. She sends him back a couple of question marks, plus a bunch of emojis just to annoy him, and when he doesn’t answer she’s left to ponder what the surprise could possibly be. 

 

An early Christmas gift? Something for the baby? Maybe he was going to take her out for lunch. Or — and she was dreaming big, here — maybe he decided to tackle some of the laundry that has been piling up all week while she’d obsessed over Thanksgiving, Black Friday and this work fundraiser?

 

The speculation keeps her mind occupied while Tanner yammers on and on about plans that they already know about, since they did all the work that he’s now taking credit for, and miraculously, she manages to survive the nearly two-hour torture without resorting to physical violence.

 

Only to get home and find her husband climbing around the roof like he thinks he’s Spider-Man.

 

Getting out of the car, she shades her eyes and yells up at him. “Seth, what the hell?”

 

“Hey babe!” he calls, coming to the edge of the roof. “I … it’s taking me longer than I thought, but … surprise!”

 

He waves his hand at the rows and rows of multicolored Christmas lights he’s attached to the roof. Judging by the piles of lights on the ground, he’s just getting started.

 

Some of their neighbors had been putting up Christmas decorations since Halloween, and a lot of them were some of the tackiest things Kate has ever seen. She really wanted to go with something simple for their home; they had talked about it and decided that instead of competing with the neighbors, a nice string of icicle lights and maybe a pretty wreath would be good enough. At least for their first Christmas in the house.

 

“So … for my ‘surprise’ you decided to buy out Home Depot and do the exact thing we decided _not_ to do?”

 

“Yeah, about that,” Seth scratches the back of his neck, a sure sign that he knows he fucked up. “Katie —“

 

“Ah,” Kate holds up a hand. “I’m gonna stop you right there. I’m going inside, I’m going to put on some sweats and take a nap. Try not to fall off the roof and leave my child fatherless before she’s even born.”

 

It’s when she gets inside that she finds the true culprit, a crumpled red flier on the kitchen table advertising the 10th annual neighborhood Christmas lights contest. The very same paper she remembers seeing Seth and his brother looking at on Thanksgiving before Seth shoved it in his pocket and distracted her with the promise of dessert.

 

She loves her house, it’s got everything she ever wanted, but she knew, she just _knew_ moving into the same neighborhood as Seth’s brother was a big mistake.

 

Of course these two would turn an innocent neighborhood Christmas celebration into a pissing contest.

 

“Richie,” she sighs, picking up her phone and dialing her sister-in-law.

 

“So, Kisa, if I were to walk over to your house right now, would I find Richie climbing all over your roof like —“

 

“Yes,” Kisa interrupts. “He’s up there like —“ she switches from English to a flurry of Spanish that’s much more than Kate’s high school Spanish class education can manage to translate. 

 

Kate laughs, letting her sister-in-law wind down before answering. “I was gonna say like Spider-Man, but yeah.”

 

“ _Boys_ ,” Kisa says.

 

“Preach it, sister.”

 

* * *

 

Her mood improves greatly with a two-hour nap and upon discovering that Seth had, in fact, taken a crack at the laundry. He only got one load finished, but that was more than she’d managed to accomplish all week. At the very least, they’ll both have clean underwear for a while.

 

By the time she’s started another load of laundry and headed for the kitchen to consider what to make for supper, Seth comes inside, sliding his arms around her from behind and nuzzling her neck. If she was still inclined to be angry with him, the way he rests his hand over the slight swell of her stomach would put an end to it. He’s always been a tactile person, but since they found out she’s pregnant he can barely keep his hands off her belly.

 

“All done?” she asks.

 

“Hmmm,” he hums, kissing her neck. “Getting there. You still mad?” His voice is low and soft, the tone he only uses for her, and he knows it Does Things to her.

 

She sighs, leaning into him. “No. I just … I knew when I married you I was getting Richie, too, but I didn’t know I was getting my beautiful home turned into ‘National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.’”

 

“Oh, you’re hilarious,” he says drily. “I hate when you say that about my brother, it’s creepy.”

 

She shrugs. “You two _are_ kind of a package deal. And I love Richie, I just don’t always love how competitive you guys are.”

 

He freezes with his head buried in the crook of her neck. “But you love me more than him, right?”

 

Laughing, she turns in his arms, going up on tiptoe to press a kiss to his mouth. “So much more. I mean, Richie’s not about to go down on me to apologize for being a jerk.”

 

“Well he better fucking not,” Seth says, tugging her hips toward his. “Is that a subtle hint, Mrs. Gecko?”

 

“Wasn’t really going for subtle.” She grins and winds her arms around his neck, giggling when he just scoops her up, carries her into the living room and deposits her on the couch. Kneeling beside her, he slips his fingers beneath the waistband of her sweats and leans in to kiss her.

 

“Let me show you how sorry I am,” he murmurs against her lips.

 

Seth Gecko is very, very good at apologizing.

 

* * *

 

She mostly tries not to think about what he’s doing to the house, even when he gets her father involved. It’s kind of a miracle, considering how much her dad had hated Seth at the beginning. It truly wasn’t anything personal, just the idea of Kate dating a man ten years older than she who owned a _bar_ didn’t really sit right with the pastor.

 

But that’s all in the past, and seeing Seth and Jacob working together, even if it means turning her beautiful house into a carnival of blinking lights, kind of warms her heart. She even musters the energy to oooh and ahhh over their progress every time they call her outside to see it.

 

It’s not the worst thing ever, but she’d just envisioned something a little less _showy_ , a little more in keeping with the true spirit of Christmas.

 

Then, lunch with her sister-in-law changes everything.

 

Slamming her car door, Kate stomps up to the house. Seth is in the garage with the door open. She thinks of Kisa, already planning how she’s going to spend the money when Richie wins the contest, because “ _of course Seth is trying hard, but let’s be honest. Richard is the creative one in the family_.” 

 

Seth is wearing the hell out of black jeans and a henley, looking over the plans he’s been working on with her father, and she just loves him _so much_ and feels so angry on his behalf, she could spit nails.

 

“Get in the car,” she orders him. “We’re going to Home Depot.”

 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” he says, coming up to put his hands on her shoulders. “What’s wrong, sweetheart? Lunch with the Snake go okay?”

 

“Don’t call her that,” Kate corrects automatically, then: “You know what, call her whatever you want! She insulted my husband, my house and, I’m pretty sure, my fashion sense. Seth, I am growing a human being in this body, it’s not my fault none of my nicer clothes fit me anymore!”

 

“Hey,” he says, sliding his hands up to cup her face, “you are the most beautiful woman in the world, no matter what you’re wearing. Fuck the Snake. Want me to go beat her up?”

 

“Ha,” she says humorlessly. “No, we’re going to Home Depot, and we’re going to buy half the fucking store, we’re going to win this dumb contest, and Kisa can shove her ski trip up her ass.”

 

Seth grins. “So, I’m getting that you want to beat them now?”

 

“Oh, we’re not going to beat them, babe,” she says seriously. “We are going to _destroy_ them.”

 

Seth pulls her in for a quick, hard kiss. “That’s my girl.”

 

* * *

In a neighborhood filled with North Poles and Santa’s Workshops, Seth decided to go in the opposite direction, turning their house into Christmas Island, complete with lighted palm trees, tropical flowers and silhouettes of hula dancers along the garage door. 

 

He’s even, with help from Kate’s father and brother, installed a surfing Santa on the roof. Kate considers it a Christmas miracle that there were no major injuries and no more conflict than a little bit of snarky sniping between Scott and Seth. 

 

When it’s finally finished, she has to admit that even though it wasn’t what she’d wanted in the first place, it’s very impressive. Truthfully, it’s no less tacky than any of the other neighborhood decorations, but it’s whimsical and fun and stands out in the crowd.

 

She’s determinedly not thinking about how much all of this is costing them, even before the sure-to-be-astronomical electric bill.

 

“Not bad, huh?” Seth says, putting an arm around her and looking over all his work. They’ve just finished a walk through the nearby streets, checking out some of the competition, including Richie and Kisa’s place.

 

“It’s amazing,” she says honestly, looking up at him. “It’s definitely the best I’ve seen, and I’m not just saying that because you’re my favorite person in the world.”

 

“What a coincidence. You’re my favorite person, too,” he says, pulling her to face him. Wrapping his arms around her, he bumps his nose into hers. After a moment, he adds, grudgingly.“Richie’s house looks great, though.”

 

“Mmmhmm, he did a great job,” she agrees. Richie went with a celestial theme: planets, constellations and even a shooting star along the front of the house. It looks fantastic. “But it wasn’t very Christmassy.”

 

“Nothing in the rules says it has to be a Christmas theme, Kate,” she turns to see Richie and Kisa walking up the sidewalk.

 

“Yeah, other than _the name of the contest_ , Richie,” she says. “I guess we’ll see.”

 

“Your place looks great,” Richie says. “Pretty sure it’s not enough to win our bet, though.”

 

“Your bet?” Kate looks up at her husband, who pulls away to scratch at the back of his neck.

 

“What is this about a bet?” Kisa asks, and Richie mirrors Seth.

 

“Um, honey,” Richie begins.

 

“Oh look,” Seth says brightly, holding out a hand to Kate. “The winner’s going to be announced. We better head to the park.”

 

The park is the most central location in the neighborhood, and the housing association always held its events there. Most of the people strolling the sidewalks looking at lights are headed that direction already.

 

Giving him a look to let him know the bet subject was being tabled, not dropped, Kate takes Seth’s hand, and they start to walk in front of Richie and Kisa. Along the way, she feels him squeeze her hand, and she looks up to see a couple ahead of them pushing a stroller, and she squeezes back, exchanging a smile with him. He doesn’t even need to say anything; she knows he’s thinking that next Christmas, that will be them.

 

And, dammit, it’s so hard for her to stay mad at him when she sees how excited he is to be a father.

 

* * *

In a completely unforeseen circumstance, neither Gecko brother walks away with the prize, rendering their side bet void as well.

 

The housing association awards the money to a bachelor named Burt Camino, who lives on the far edge of the neighborhood. None of them have seen the house, so they walk over with Richie and Kisa, all four of them coming to a stunned halt in front of the house.

 

It’s covered in an overwhelming whirl of colored, flashing lights, with no rhyme or reason or order at all, and it leaves them all speechless.

 

Except Seth, of course. “Holy shit,” he says. “I feel like I’m high just looking at the fucking thing.”

 

“I call it Acid Trip Wonderland,” the man, presumably Burt, says, appearing out of nowhere. Or maybe he’s been there all along, but Kate’s eyes can only take in so much information. She feels a little wobbly, like she’s had too many margaritas. “I saw it in a dream.”

 

“Oookay,” Seth says, gently steering Kate back in the direction of home. “Congrats, man. It’s really something.”

 

* * *

Once Richie and Kisa have made their goodbyes and split off onto their own street, Seth speaks again. “It’s going to be hard to top that next year.”

 

Shaking her head, Kate tucks herself closer in to his side. “Well, at least you have a whole year to plan it. You’ll have less time to work on it, though, what with all that diaper changing you’re gonna be doing.”

 

She feels his hand ghost over her belly again, then he presses a kiss to her hair. “I think I can handle that.”


End file.
